2nd Trinity I, God's Leaves

  

2^nd February Trinity I

Luke 8:4-15 

And as a great crowd had gathered, and ever more people streamed to him out of the cities, he [Jesus] spoke in a parable: 

Van Gogh

"A sower went out to sow his seed. As he sowed, some seed fell on the path. It was trodden upon, and the birds of the sky [or, air] ate it up. Other seed fell upon the rocks, and as it sprouted, it [the sprouting green] withered because it had no moisture. Yet other seed fell under the thorns; the thorns grew with it and choked what came up. And some fell upon good soil, grew, and brought forth fruit a hundredfold." When he had said these things, he called out, "Whoever has ears to hear, let them hear!" 

His disciples asked him what this parable might mean. And he said, "To you, it has been given the gift of being able to understand the mysteries of the kingdom of God; but to the others, it is given in pictures and parables, for they see and do not yet see, and hear, although they do not yet understand with their thinking.

 

"The meaning of the parable is this: The seed is the Word of God. That which fell upon the path are those who hear it; afterward, the tempter comes and tears the Word out of their hearts so that they cannot find healing through the trusting power of faith working in them. 

"Those on the rock are those who, when they hear the Word, take it up with joy; but they remain without root. For a while, the power of their faith works in them, but in times of trial, they fall away. 

"What fell under the thorns are those who hear the Word from the spirit, and as they go on their way, the sorrows and the riches and the joys of life choke it, and they bring no fruit to maturity. 

"And the seeds that fell in the good soil are those who hear the Word, and take it up into their hearts, feel its beauty, become noble and worthy and patiently keep it alive, tending it there until it brings forth fruit."

2^nd February Trinity

February 13, 2022

Luke 8:14-18 

Where does the sky begin? 

When we look up on a clear night, the sky has infinite depth. During a clear day, again, the infinite blue. But when there are clouds, the sky comes lower. In fog, it lowers to nearly ground level. Therefore we might well say that the sky begins where the ground ends. Its lowest level is the air around us. And we are all of us sky-dwellers. 

In the parable, the sower scatters his Word-Seeds from the sky.
They shower down around us, into us. Whether and how long they grow depends on where they fall. 

Some of Christ’s words fall into the everydayness of life. They are crushed underfoot in our busyness. In our ordinary overcrowded earthly way of thinking, the sky-birds of the adversary make them disappear. 

Some of Christ’s words fall on the rocky soil of an open but shallow heart. They live for a while, but without depth, they cannot be maintained and soon die away. 

Some of His words fall into the thickets of our lives. They accompany us on our journey for a while, but life’s fullness chokes them out, and His words cannot gain a full and independent life in us. 

Yet some of Christ’s living Word-Seeds fall into open hearts, into souls that have been plowed and cultivated, deepened intentionally or perhaps by suffering. Into such a human earthly heart, Christ’s sky-words fall. And there, the soul and spirit tend and nourish them, and they grow and develop their potential to become immensely fruitful. 

And that is how we attain God’s eternal life—by receiving his Seed-Words and growing them skyward within us. For the sky begins at the ground level of the human heart. 

Teresa of Avila says:

 

Our bodies

are the leaves of God.

  

.... but our souls, dear, I will just say this forthright;

they are God

Himself,

 

we will never perish

unless [in us] He

does.* 

 

* “ I Will Just Say This,” by Teresa of Avila (1515-1582), in Love Poems From God, Daniel Ladinsky, p. 271

www.thechristiancommunity.org

 

 

1st Trinity I, 2022, Rest in Prayer

1^st  Trinity I

Matthew 20:1-16 

Codex aureus Epternacensis, 11th century

"The kingdom of the heavens is like a man, the master of his house, who went out early in the morning to hire workers for his vineyard. Agreeing to pay them one denarius a day, he sent them out
into his vineyard. 

"At about nine o'clock, he went out and saw others standing in the marketplace, and he said to them, 'Go also into my vineyard, and I will give you whatever is right.' So they went.

"He went out again at about noon and at three o'clock and did the same. At five o'clock, he went out and found others standing there, and he said to them, 'Why do you stand here all day idle?' They said, 'Because no one has hired us.' He said, 'You, too, go into the vineyard.' 

"And when evening came, the master of the vineyard said to his steward, 'Call the workers and give them their wages, beginning with the last ones hired and going on to the first.' 

"Those who had been hired at five o'clock came forward, and each received one denarius. Therefore, when it was the turn of those hired first, they expected to receive more. However, they, too, also received one denarius each. They took it, but they began to grumble against the master of the house. 'These men who were hired last only worked one hour, and you have made them equal to us, who have borne the burden of the work and the heat of the day.' 

"However, he answered one of them, saying, 'Friend, I am not being unjust to you. Did you not agree with me for one denarius? Take what you have earned and go. I wish to give to the one hired last the same as I give to you. Have I not the right to do as I wish with what is mine? Or do you give me an evil look because I am generous?' 

"Thus will the last be first and the first will one day be last." 

1^st Trinity I

February 6, 2022

Matthew 20:1-16 

If I want to lift a weight, I have to exert continuous effort to keep it raised. If I let go, it immediately falls. This is how things go in the kingdom of the earthly—objects are subject to the downward pull of the law of gravity. They require continuous effort to keep them raised. 

In the kingdom of life, however, another law prevails. Sunlight continuously draws enormous masses of matter skyward in the form of water vapor, trees, and plants. The sky kingdom operates according to the laws of levity. Even our bodies respond to its upward pull. 

Today's gospel reading is about working not in the earthly kingdom but in the life kingdom. Different rules apply here. The workers are thinking only in earthly terms—the amount of effort expended determines the rewards received. But we are all working not only on fields of earth but in fields of heaven as well. What is important in the heavenly kingdom is that the work be done by all, to the best of their ability, according to heavenly time, and not for the purposes of personal reward. 

The heavenly kingdom, like the sun, sends us its warmth. It draws us upward. For millennia, human beings have been like vines, producing fruits of devotion, love, and prayer. Catherine of Sienna sees the ripening fields of humanity and says:

The sun hears the fields talking about effort

and the sun

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smiles,

and whispers to me:

"Why don't the fields just rest, for

I am willing to do

everything

to help them

grow?"

Rest, my dears, in

prayer.* 

Behind today's parable about labor, effort, and reward lies a further theme: in the heavenly kingdom of life, for whom is the harvest intended? The parable says that the Master who owns the field is the kingdom of the heavens itself, with all its divine beings. The angels, and even God, need our willing cooperation in the work of the harvest. They are awaiting the harvest of the soul-spiritual substance we have to offer. 

And so, to the realm of uplift, light, and life we offer our purest thoughts, the love of our hearts, and our willing devotion. We offer ourselves to the Master's harvesting of souls so that we become the wine of angels, the strengthening and gladdening of God. Then, likewise, all receive what they need as the day's sustenance. 

 

*"Rest in Prayer," Catherine of Siena, in Love Poems from God, Daniel Ladinsky, p. 195

 www.thechristiancommunity.org

 

4th Epiphany 2022, Your Presence Shine

 4^th Epiphany

John 5:1-16 

Sometime later, there was a Jewish feast, and Jesus went up to Jerusalem. Now there is in Jerusalem, near the Sheep's Gate, a pool called Bethesda in Hebrew, which is surrounded by five covered porches. Here lay a great many invalids, the blind, the lame, the paralyzed, waiting for the water to begin moving. For from time to time, a powerful angel of the Lord descended into the pool and stirred up the waters. The first one in the pool after such a disturbance would be healed of whatever ailment he had. 

And there was a certain man there who had been an invalid for 38 years. When Jesus saw him lying there and became aware that he had been ill for so long, he asked him, "Do you want [have the will] to become whole?" 

The invalid answered him, "Lord [or, Sir], I have no one to help me into the pool when the water is stirred. While I am trying to get in, someone else goes down ahead of me." 

Then Jesus said to him, "Rise up, take up your pallet, and walk." At once, the man was healed and picked up his pallet, and walked. 

Lynne Eastin

However, it was the Sabbath on that day. Therefore the Jewish leaders said to the man who was healed, "It is the Sabbath; the law forbids you to carry your pallet." 

But he replied, "The man who healed me said to me, "Take up your pallet and walk!" 

And they asked him, "Who is the man who said to you, 'take it up and walk'?" But the one who was healed had no idea who it was, for Jesus had slipped away, as there was a crowd in the place. 

Later, Jesus found him in the Temple and said to him, "Take to heart what I say: Behold, you have become whole. Sin no more, lest your destiny bring you something worse." 

The man went away and told the Jewish leaders that Jesus was the one who had healed him. That is why they persecuted Jesus and sought to kill him because he did these things on the Sabbath.  

4^th Epiphany

January 30, 2022

John 5:1-18 

Often things happen without our knowing how. A movement, a change, or transformation seems to happen behind a curtain. We only see the result. 

The will is such a mystery. In the broadest sense, it is connected to movement. Through our will, we stand up, walk, and work. But the workings of this mysterious power are mostly hidden from us. 

Today's reading involves an invalid. Interesting word—in-valid. The man's will, his ability to stand up, to walk, to work, had been 'invalidated.' Christ asks him, "Is it your will to become whole, healthy?" 

This question suggests that the man needed to become more conscious of his own will. What is it that he wants? How devoted is he to achieving his goal? His answer: "I have no one to help me. I can't do it alone." So Christ helps him. Christ infuses His own healing, integrative will into the man's weakened will, giving it strength. 

In the Act of Consecration of Man, we express our awareness of our own

weaknesses of will and need for healing. We come to the altar, which is both a banquet table and a worktable. We bring our humble offerings, the selfless purity of our best and most hope-filled thoughts, our noblest feelings, along with whatever amount of motive force we can muster. And Christ adds His own healing will to them. This gives our offerings the upward thrust and power of levity that allows them to rise to the Father. Together the Father and His Son transform our will offerings. They are returned to us as healing medicine for our invalid souls, healing energy for a failing world. 

So in the words of John O'Donohue: 

May you find the wisdom to listen to your illness:

Ask it why it came. Why it chose your friendship.

Where it wants to take you. What it wants you to know.

What quality of space it wants to create in you.

What you need to learn to become more fully yourself

That your presence may shine in the world.*

 

*John O'Donohue, "A Blessing for a Friend on the Arrival of Illness," in To Bless the Space Between Us, p. 60.

www.thechristiancommunity.org

3rd Epiphany 2022, Glad Hearts at the Marriage Feasts

 3^rd Epiphany

John 2:1-11

 

Brenda Fox

On the third day, a wedding took place in Cana in Galilee, and the mother of Jesus was there. And Jesus and his disciples were also invited to the wedding.
 
When the wine ran out, Jesus' mother said to him, "They have no more wine."
 
And Jesus answered her, "What shall be done by me and what by you, O Woman? [ or, "A power in common works between you and me, O Woman."] [or, "Something still weaves between you and me, O Woman."]  The hour when I can work out of myself alone has not yet come."
 
Then his mother said to the servants, "Do whatever he tells you."
 
There were six stone jars set up there for the Jewish custom of ceremonial washing, each containing twenty to thirty gallons. Jesus said to them, "Fill the jars with fresh water."
 
And they filled them to the brim. And he said, "Now draw some out and take it to the Master of the feast. And they brought it to him.
 
Now when the Master of the feast tasted the water that had become wine, not knowing where it came from—for only the servants who had drawn the water knew—he called the bridegroom aside and said to him, "Everyone serves the choice wine first, and when the guests have drunk, then the lesser; but you have saved the best until now."
 
This, the beginning of the signs of the spirit that Jesus performed among human beings, happened at Cana in Galilee and revealed the creating spiritual power that worked through Him. The disciples' hearts opened, the power of faith began to stir in them, and they began to trust in him.

3^rd Epiphany
January 23, 2022
John 2:1-11
 
 
The choicest wines are the result of a long process. The right grapes, long

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ripened, harvested at peak, aged for a long time. It is a process of controlled decay and preservation—it keeps the juice from spoiling and creates a drink that gladdens, a drink that even has medicinal properties.
 
The state of spirituality in Christ’s time was like wine: harvested, aged, preserved. The problem was that for hundreds of years, there had been no new harvest. No prophet, no new inspiration. No new spiritual wine to gladden, to strengthen, to heal human hearts. The choicest of spiritual wines had been served long before; now, there remained only the lesser.
 
Christ came to establish a new kind of spiritual wine, out of a new kind of winemaking: wine taken from the lifesprings of the earth herself; wine processed by the highest spiritual being; wine infused with new healing spiritual power for human hearts.
 
And it has its effect. ‘The disciples’ hearts opened, and the power of faith began to stir in them, and they began to trust in him.’
 

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They began to trust that something new was happening on earth—a new process that would wed the human soul to its intended spirit bridegroom. A new wine was being produced, a wine that would heal the wound that separates us from God.
 
This process is recreated anew in The Act of Consecration. We have come together to celebrate the ongoing wedding feast of humanity; we drink the wine taken from the life-springs of the earth herself; wine transformed by the highest spiritual master, infused with new healing spiritual power for human hearts. We drink the wine changed by Him into strengthening, healing medicine, gladdening hearts at the marriage feast of the human and the divine.